China’s challenging neighborhood diplomacy

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said during a visit to India that her country continues to oppose China’s efforts to reclaim and develop man-made islands in the South China Sea.

However, in her speech Tuesday to a forum in New Delhi, Bishop appeared to discourage direct confrontation.

“Our objective must be to encourage China to exercise its economic and strategic weight in a way that respects the sovereign equality of states, that upholds and strengthens the rules-based order and that benefits all countries and peoples,” Bishop said.

She urged the six governments that claim territory in the strategically vital waterway to respect international laws and dispute resolution mechanisms, especially the United Nation’s Convention on the Law of the Sea, using them to “guide behavior and resolve disputes.”

“This is how countries in our region need to resolve disputes, including in the South China Sea, and we continue to oppose the construction of artificial reefs and militarization of those structures in the South China Sea,” Bishop said.